One of Africa’s oldest elephants killed by poachers

NAIROBI: Poachers in Kenya killed one of Africa’s oldest and largest elephants using a poisoned arrow, said a conservation group that protects the dwindling group of giant ‘tuskers’.

Satao II, named after another famed giant killed in 2014, was found dead on Monday and was believed to have been shot with a poisoned arrow, however this had not been confirmed.

‘Luckily, through the work we do with the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS), we were able to find the carcass before the poachers could recover the ivory,’ said Richard Moller of the Tsavo Trust.

The elephant, believed to be about 50 years old, was beloved by visitors to the Tsavo National Park where he roamed.

Not long after his carcass was spotted in routine aerial reconnaissance of the park, two poachers believed to be responsible for the killing were apprehended.

One of Africa’s oldest and largest elephants was killed by poachers in Kenya yesterday, according to a conservation group that protects the dwindling group of giant ‘tuskers’.

Richard Moller of the Tsavo Trustsaid that Satao II, named after another famed giant killed in 2014, was found dead on Monday and was believed to have been shot with a poisoned arrow, however this had not been confirmed.

‘Luckily, through the work we do with the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS), we were able to find the carcass before the poachers could recover the ivory,’ said Moller.

The elephant, believed to be about 50 years old, was beloved by visitors to the Tsavo National Park where he roamed.

Not long after his carcass was spotted in routine aerial reconnaissance of the park, two poachers believed to be responsible for the killing were apprehended.

The incident comes just two days after a KWS officer was killed during an anti-poaching incident in the park, the second to die in less than a month at the hands of poachers, according to the wildlife authority.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the number of African elephants has fallen by around 111,000 to 415,000 over the past decade.